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LANDI KOTAL: Prime Minister Imran Khan warned against any emotional attempt from the people to cross the Line of Control (LoC) from Pakistan, saying on Wednesday any such attempt would, in fact, affect the struggle of the people in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Cheers

Charsi took another U-turn. Just last week in Muzzafarabad in porkistan held kashmir he was telling the jehadi public not to attempt to cross Loc now and to wait till his verbal diarrhea on sep 27 at the UN is over. He would then give instructions on when to try to cross the LOC. But with the down-hill skiing now done by dimran my hopes of the paki vermins attempting to cross the Loc and the MMG pickets of the BSF/Army opening up on them is gone .

NEW DELHI: Since August 5, when India scrapped Article 370, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's obsession with Kashmir has reached unprecedented levels and it is visible most prominently in his tweets.

AN OBSESSION

Of the 95 times he has tweeted since August 5 (till September 12), 71 tweets have reference to India, 56 contain the words Kashmir or Kashmiris and 19 mention Modi. Apart from this, he has made a special speech on Kashmir in Pakistan's national assembly and used the country's Independence Day to speak about India and its PM for morethan 30 minutes.

AN OLD PROBLEM

Khan rose to power with the promise to improve the economic situation of his country. After a year in office (he won elections in July last year), the downward slide of the economy has continued. He had said Pakistan won't go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) seeking a bailout (and focus on West Asia and China) but has done exactly the opposite. The IMF approved a $6 billion bailout for Pakistan in May (the 13th time in 30 years) in addition to the country getting loans from China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Before elections, Khan had called for the country to be less economically reliant on the US but is trying to convince the US for more funds. Khan was an outspoken opponent of drone strikes by the US in Pakistan's tribal areas. Just last week, the US claimed to have killed Osama bin Laden's son in the "Afghanistan /Pakistan region" (the killing of Osama had raised questions over sovereignty in Pakistan).

THE BIG HEADACHE

It's the economy. Pakistan has a ballooning balance-of-payment crisis (its foreign exchange reserves are enough to cover just about two months' worth of imports), its budget deficit (at 8.9% of GDP) is the highest in about 20 years, its liabilities (at over Pakistan Rs 40 trillion) exceed the size of its economy and manufacturing growth (at 3.6%) is at a decade low. Its rupee has lost over a third of its value compared to the US dollar in the last year, foreign direct investments have fallen 60% compared to last year and it was forced to borrow $16 billion in 2018-19 to avoid running out of foreign currency. Not exactly the kind of numbersto boast about.

A DEADLINE

Two meetings scheduled for next month could squeeze Pakistan's financial situation further. The Financial ActionTask Force, which had placed Pakistan on the grey list of countries with weak laws to tackle money laundering and terror financing, will meet in Bangkok to review the progress on its suggestions to avoid being pushed into the black list. Black listing would lead to financial downgrade for Pakistan, restrictions on its markets and fund inflows from abroad. The same month, the IMF will also initiate review of the country's compliance with the conditions it had put under its bailout programme. IMF has released only the first tranche of $991 million of its $6 billion loan.

THE KASHMIR PLAN

Raising the Kashmir pitch helps Imran divert people's attention from rising unemployment and inflation or the threat of having to increase taxes as required by the IMF. Raising the spectre of war is aimed at telling the world that Pakistan is being pushed into a corner and the consequences of 'destabilising' Pakistan. The rhetoric is expected to culminate in the address at the UN General Assembly on September 27. The country is also seeking US intervention for relief from the tough conditions of the FATF and the IMF in return for its services in Afghanistan.

Vips wrote:Charsi took another U-turn. Just last week in Muzzafarabad in porkistan held kashmir he was telling the jehadi public not to attempt to cross Loc now and to wait till his verbal diarrhea on sep 27 at the UN is over. He would then give instructions on when to try to cross the LOC. But with the down-hill skiing now done by dimran my hopes of the paki vermins attempting to cross the Loc and the MMG pickets of the BSF/Army opening up on them is gone .

Now being fully aware that they want him to be the convenient scapegoat for halaling when it gets repelled by India and questions will be asked of him, he is just preparing his exit plan (probably to UK-stan) where he can claim innocence and say the military didn't keep him in the loop or simply try and blame rogue elements within the pure protectors of pakistan ..

Bart S wrote:I hope there is some clear strategy behind India repeatedly (first for President, now for PM) asking for clearance for VVIP use of Pakistani airspace. Both have been turned down, publicly asked by India and publicly turned down by Pakistan. ....

Could be Indian bureaucratic process as well. Govt of countries must be informed when a VVIP transits through their air-space.

GoI was not "informing". They were asking for permission for the VVIP to transit through their airspace in the first place. Please don't blur the key distinction.

On the surface, there is nothing chankian going on, just GoI bureaucrats being stupid and hidebound, probably following process but not policy.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/ ... -terrorismPakistan PM to accuse Modi of complicity in Kashmir 'terrorism'Imran Khan will use UN address to highlight alleged atrocities carried out by Indian armyPakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, is to follow a speech by his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, at the United Nations general assembly by accusing him of being complicit in the torture and mass detention of protesters in India-administered Kashmir.Khan will use his address in New York next week to highlight alleged atrocities being carried out by the Indian army in the Jammu and Kashmir state since Modi’s government revoked the region’s autonomy by abrogating article 370 of the constitution......Gautam

KARACHI: The $50 billion worth China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects launched amidst lot of fan fare by the PML-N government and they soon became so expedient that practically all political parties lined to take its credit.

Some analysts laid credit of the CPEC projects with the former dictator Gen (retd) Pervaiz Musharraf and the military leadership. It became so sacrosanct afterwards that mere objecting to the project would invite the label of treachery against the country. But then the pendulum swung the other way. After the inauguration of the PTI’s government into the office, the projects first came under scathing criticism of Minister for Trade Razzaq Daud and then Minister for Communication Murad Saeed who accused PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal of involvement in misappropriations in some CPEC projects and then all of them came to a seemingly grinding halt.

Now it has become a forgone conclusion that the CPEC projects have been shelved for all practical purposes. The former spokesman of Balochistan government’s Jan Muhammad Buledi told Deutsche Welle the incumbent government does not accord any priority to CPEC. Buledi said no progress was witnessed on the CPEC projects for Balochistan in the last one year adding the projects have seemingly been frozen. No development has been undertaken on the land acquired for Gwadar Airport, he said and added same goes with the 300MW electricity generation plant in Gwadar that was to be built by China for which land was also acquired but the development work is yet to start. Gwadar Port remains similarly frozen.

Various circles feel the Chinese leadership is upset with the corruption allegations of the incumbent government. One of the government officials on condition of anonymity told Deutsche Welle ( DW) the Chinese have practically stopped funding for the project, especially after Ministers Razak Dawood and Murad Saeed leveled charges of corruption. He said previously the Chinese used to release loans first and later would ask for procurements, but now they first demand procurement and there is no certainty if any funding would be released for it. And how could the government undertake procurement when they do not have funds. This shows that the CPEC projects are practically over and if at all there is any forward movement worth the name it will be extremely slow.

Some politicians believe that while the allegations of corruption did frustrate the Chinese but some of them believe that certain external powers want the CPEC projects to be slowed or altogether scrapped. PPP’s leader and Deputy Chairman Senate Saleem Mandviwala said when the PPP started these projects they faced immense international pressure against launching them but it did not abandon them. Mandviwala said the former president Asif Ali Zardari visited China on 13 occasions and developed trust and confidence with the leadership. He said the incumbent government is trying to keep both US and China happy which is impossible. The incompetency of the PTI government has given China more reason to be dismayed and in this situation the remaining projects would continue to remain on the back burner.

Many analysts also similarly believe the external pressures are playing a major role in Pakistan back pedaling over the CPEC projects. Suhail Chaudhry, a columnist from Lahore, thinks the CPEC projects would miss deadlines primarily due to to stern conditionalities of the IMF, World Bank and the US. America and the other western powers do not want Pakistan to complete the CPEC projects. Pakistan's plight is compounded by the financial crunch and the IMF package. If Islamabad is unable to achieve the revenue targets the IMF would not release its next tranche sending Pakistan to desperately seek the US help for the IMF funding. At this stage Washington would invoke the CPEC conditions forcing Pakistan with no other option but to slow down the projects, but Pakistan cannot afford to scrap these projects, he said.

An source in the Ministry of Communications confided to DW that several important projects have been put on hold. Development work has stopped on the Karachi-Sukkur motorway. Similarly the Dera Ismail Khan to Balochistan Wester Route has also been abandoned. Work on several critical motorway projects including the Orange Lines and Green Lines project has also been stopped, causing Pakistan to miss its chance of major development, China in the situation is not overly hurt, he said.

Another prevailing popular perception is that the PTI has sacrificed CPEC at the altar of the US regional policies to cultivate Washington on its side. Senior PTI leader Ishaq Khakwani rejected the perception and cited the example of Malaysia. He said negotiations do take place following change of governments on the format of payments and other relevant areas but it is unthinkable that the PTI government would drop the CPEC projects altogether.

abhijitm wrote:There is one catch though. If we throw out pak army from pok and have physical control over entire kashmir then we are bound by UN resolution to conduct plebiscite in kashmir.

I am pretty sure India and Bangladesh (Erstwhile "East Pakistan", The real Pakistan if you go by population numbers) can come to some accommodation about that where Bangladesh gives up all claims of erstwhile Pakistan (Pre 1971) claim to JK

abhijitm wrote:There is one catch though. If we throw out pak army from pok and have physical control over entire kashmir then we are bound by UN resolution to conduct plebiscite in kashmir.

I am pretty sure India and Bangladesh (Erstwhile "East Pakistan", The real Pakistan if you go by population numbers) can come to some accommodation about that where Bangladesh gives up all claims of erstwhile Pakistan (Pre 1971) claim to JK

No we have the TRUMP card to ask Pakistan to comply with TNT and negotiate transfer of population as per partition deal . Then Pakistan and J&k as we know will not be existing after this rearrangement.

Manish_P wrote:Sir, you trust the altruistic Bangladeshis then.. on both sides of the eastern borders, to not start claims for a Greater Bangladesh?

the beedis have been claiming "lebensraum" over a great deal of Indian territory as a matter of their right.

the claim for a greater beediland has existed for the longest time now.

there is only one language the "neighbours" to the east as well as the west understand and we do not use that language as often as we should be doing.

the beedis are playing us like a fine stringed instrument and have been doing so since their "liberation". Anyone else would have given us unconditional rail/road access through their territory for better access to our NE but the beedis have always baulked at doing so.

This access is the very least that they could have done for our help in 1971.

abhijitm wrote:There is one catch though. If we throw out pak army from pok and have physical control over entire kashmir then we are bound by UN resolution to conduct plebiscite in kashmir.

I am pretty sure India and Bangladesh (Erstwhile "East Pakistan", The real Pakistan if you go by population numbers) can come to some accommodation about that where Bangladesh gives up all claims of erstwhile Pakistan (Pre 1971) claim to JK

After India occupies all parts of POK and reestablishes borders with China and Afghanistan, it can cede Mirpur as a gesture of good will to the Panjabis. The valley can participate in a plebiscite to create a pure islamic city state surrounded on all sides by India But only after appropriate compensation in cash and land for all the ethnic cleansing carried Also going forward forward they pay tariffs for all goods and resources that are transported to them b roads that they did not help build and which they chose to bomb instead.

If thats not good enough they can be encouraged to migrate to Syria... it has lost a lot of good people.

Nadeem Farooq Paracha@NadeemfParacha·9hWeird piece of history: Controversial high court judge, Maulvi Mushtaq, handed ZA Bhutto the death sentence in 1978. A few years later, when the judge passed away, his funeral was attacked by a large swarm of bees. People ran away, leaving his coffin unattended for over an hour.

Pakistan did not file the petition as it failed to garner the minimum support of 16 nations for admission of the request. Further adoption of the resolution would have required a minimum of 24 votes.Pakistan's Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had promised his nation a resolution on Kashmir before leaving for Geneva to attend the session.Before leaving for Geneva, the Pakistani minister had claimed that he will use the UNHRC sessions to raise "Indian state-monitored genocide in Jammu and Kashmir".Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that he will not only raise the Kashmir issue but will also move a Kashmir "resolution", seeking support for Pakistan's case. However, he failed to deliver.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/52935 ... an-in-2022Cricket Australia hopeful of touring Pakistan in 2022September 20, 2019SYDNEY: Cricket Australia is hoping to tour Pakistan in 2022, but chief executive Kevin Roberts said security remains a concern and he would never jeopardise the safety of players.Most international teams have refused to visit the South Asian nation since the Sri Lankan team’s bus was attacked by gunmen during a Test in Lahore in March 2009, leaving six players injured. Six policemen and two civilians were killed.Roberts returned from Pakistan on Thursday after the first trip by a high-level Australian cricket delegation in more than a decade.The team has not played there since 1998, on government advice, but is next scheduled to tour in early 2022 and Roberts told Melbourne’s SEN radio he wanted to see for himself the situation on the ground."The purpose was really to understand the landscape, look at the plans they have in place around security and then start expressing our expectations for the safety of our players and our support staff well over two years away from when we’re due to tour," he said."Things are heading in the right direction. In saying that we were travelling in armoured cars and escorted by police and felt very safe over there. But certainly that level of security is still required at this point." Roberts said "we would love to see international cricket return to Pakistan", but cautioned that "we would never put our people in jeopardy"......GautamI guess Pakistan will allow ball tampering and Australia will allow match fixing. Black and white Pakis will prosper together.

KARACHI : Seven years after the deadly fire that killed more than 250 workers in a Baldia garment factory, an owner of the industrial unit identified a Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker and six others as accused persons, who allegedly planned and set fire to their business over non-payment of ‘protection money’.

While recording his statement from the Pakistan consulate in Dubai through a video link, Arshad Bhaila deposed before an antiterrorism court that the fire in their factory in which over 250 workers perished was an act of terrorism intentionally carried out by the accused persons on the instructions of the MQM leadership.

In July, the trial court had allowed an application moved by Arshad Bhaila and Shahid Bhaila through their counsel Afaq Ahmed pleading to the court to record their testimonies from the Gulf state through a video link citing purported threats to their lives in the country.

On Thursday, the ATC-VII judge, who is conducting trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, took up the matter to record their statements, when the special public prosecutor moved an application stating that the prosecution had given up witness Shahid and sought to record the statement of his brother Arshad.

Two detained accused — then sector in-charge Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola, and M. Zubair, alias Chariya — were produced from prison. The MQM lawmaker, the then provincial minister for industries, Rauf Siddiqui, gatekeepers of the factory Shahrukh Latif, Fazal Ahmed, Arshad Mehmood and Ali Mohammad appeared on bail.

Hyderabad-based business persons — Ali Hasan Qadri and Dr Abdul Sattar Khan — who have been booked for purportedly using Rs50.9m allegedly extorted from the factory owners on the pretext of compensation for the victims, also appeared on bail.

At the outset, the judge put the accused persons before witness Arshad Bhaila for the purpose of identification through the video link.

The witness rightly picked out Abdul Rehman Bhola, Zubair Chariya and the four factory gatekeepers as the accused persons. However, Mr Bhaila deposed that he had seen Rauf Siddiqui through the media, but neither had met him nor Qadri or Dr Abdul Sattar.

Regular ‘protection money’

The factory owner deposed that they had been paying ‘protection money’ to the MQM every month, adding that they inducted Mansoor Ahmed as the production manager in the factory, who had connections with the political party.

Mansoor Ahmed told the party that the factory owners would pay it Rs1.5m monthly, he added.

The witness further deposed that in 2005 the production manager inducted Zubair Ahmed in the factory’s finishing department, who was a friend of Majid Baig, the younger brother of then sector in-charge Asghar Baig of the MQM in Baldia Town.

The owner deposed that in 2012 the manager told him that they would have to pay more protection money and arranged a meeting with Asghar Baig, who told them that from then they would have to pay an increased amount of protection money to the MQM.

He said on July 12, 2012 Abdul Rehman, alias Bhola, replaced Asghar Baig as sector in-charge in Baldia.

The factory owner mentioned that as they were leaving their factory one day Abdul Rehman intercepted them and threatened to contact the then MQM Karachi Tanzeemi Committee head Hammad Siddiqui over the matter of protection money.

He deposed that later Bhola told them that Siddiqui had asked them to pay Rs250m and 50 per cent share in the factory.

“This stunned us,” the witness deposed, adding that subsequently he asked their manager Mansoor Ahmed to offer to settle the matter against a payment of Rs10m on their behalf.

The factory owner further deposed that due to repeated demands for money by the MQM, they decided to shift their business to Bangladesh and also visited that country in this regard.

He added that the people from the MQM started to vex them regularly due to which they even used to change their routes and vehicles while visiting their factory.

Mr Bhaila recalled that on Sept 11, 2012 a fire first broke out in the basement of the factory and then on the upper floor of the building, but nothing happened on the mezzanine floor.

He said that the fire brigade staff arrived there after a delay of 60 to 90 minutes.

The witness deposed that after the fire engulfed the factory, then head of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) Ahmed Chinoy sent a message to them through a relative that “it was not safe for them to stay at the burning factory”. Therefore, the owner said they went to a relative’s place.

The factory owner testified that soon after they left the scene, MQM workers took over the place and they did not let anyone to go inside the factory. He said within 24 hours of the incident their names were placed on the Exit Control List.

Bhaila said later a factory worker, Kashif, told them that Zubair Chariya and five unknown men were seen smoking hashish in the factory’s canteen when the fire broke out. According to Kashif, Zubair was involved in setting fire to the industrial unit, he added.

The factory owner also deposed that the police registered an FIR of the incident against them (factory owners) under pressure from then provincial minister for industries Rauf Siddiqui and the MQM leadership. “We were portrayed as villains and the real culprit was shown as a hero,” he added.

Arshad Bhaila said they obtained pre-arrest bail from the Sindh High Court’s circuit bench in Larkana and joined the investigation.

The witness said they had engaged Advocate Naimat Randhawa, who was also killed after he appeared in the court on their behalf on some dates of hearing.

KARACHI: Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has expressed desire to become Deputy Prime Minister (DPM). He said this while addressing a summit held here in a local hotel on Wednesday.

He held we are setting up the largest bio technology centre of South Asia. Green energy is future. The transmission of electricity will be made through green energy rather than poles and cables.

He went on to say we kept on building madaris rather than the best universities of the world and serving them. We missed the chances of MIT and Havard. We got a lot from US during Ziaul Haq regime in decade of 1970. We cannot make up for loss by selling tomatoes and potatoes in future.

He said the only difference between Pakistan, China, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia is technology. He remarked in these countries the Minister for Science and Technology is known as Deputy Prime Minister. May our Prime Minister (PM) pay his attention to this side but notice has not been taken so far.

When Fawad Chaudhry expressed this desire smilingly, the entire hall echoed with laughter and clapping.

Talking to media men he said Kachra government is in place in Sindh. Provincial government has to do nothing and it is necessary to get rid of it. The people of Sindh have to decide either they want to live with Kachra government or want to change it.

If people remember he had mentioned way back in 1992 after winning the world cup why so much pleasure? Its not as if i have won Kashmir.After his last US trip in July and Trump's offer to mediate the charsi actually thought that he would do something which would ensure his place in history. Chutiya had started dreaming of being the greatest pakistani ever who did the impossible and delivered kashmir to Pakistan.

Back to reality...Now Imran will have to forever suffer the ignominy of loosing Kashmir.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/worl ... ivist.htmlGulalai Ismail, Feminist Hunted by Pakistan’s Authorities, Escapes to U.S.By Jeffrey Gettleman, Sept. 19, 2019NEW DELHI — Her face was everywhere — on the news, at police stations and at the airports where the Pakistani government had put her on a list of the nation’s most wanted.She has been accused of treason, though human rights defenders said that the allegations were bogus and that she was being targeted for highlighting abuses committed by Pakistan’s military. Security services were searching for her in every corner of the country, raiding her friends’ houses and closing in on her family. But somehow Gulalai Ismail, a 32-year-old Pakistani women’s rights activist on the run, managed to slip through the dragnet last month and escape to America. She is now staying with her sister in Brooklyn and has applied for political asylum in the United States.She is still worried about her parents back home and the underground network that secretly protected her as she moved from house to house, city to city, through countless police checkpoints, always wearing a veil over her face, her eyes barely visible.She did not reveal how she got out, except to say, “I didn’t fly out of any airport.”“I can’t tell you any more,” she said in an interview this week. “My exit story will put many lives at risk.”Her ordeal sheds light on the state of human rights in Pakistan, a troubled nation with a history of brutal repression. Ms. Ismail has campaigned aggressively for women’s rights, bringing attention to rapes, disappearances and other abuses that she and many others say have been committed by Pakistan’s security forces against their own people. The military is all-powerful in Pakistan and the country is approaching an inflection point. Pakistani officials do not like talking about Ms. Ismail — none would comment publicly for this article......Gautam

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has termed its Afghan counterpart's renewed refusal to recognise the international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan as"irresponsible and unwarranted".

The Afghan foreign ministry's statement, issued on Friday in response to the opening of the 24-hour Torkham crossing by Pakistan earlier in the week, emphasised that Kabul "does not recognise the Durand Line as an official border between the two countries".

The statement issued by the Foreign Office in response pointed out that the "Pakistan-Afghanistan border is an internationally recognised, official border between the two countries in accordance with all relevant international laws and conventions".

The statement further highlighted that Pakistan believes the 24/7 opening of the new Torkham crossing point to be a "significant step forward to facilitate the people and traders of both sides".

"Such statements only serve to undermine the resolve for peace and cooperation between the two countries and should be avoided," the FO regretted.

The Afghan foreign ministry statement had issued a muted acknowledgement of Pakistan's move to open the Torkham crossing.

"The Torkham crossing in order to further help patients and facilitate trade between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan will operate round the clock," it said.

- What Pakistan leaders to do is their call. We've seen them mainstream terrorism in the past, Syed Akbaruddin said

- Pakistan PM Imran Khan has vowed to raise the Kashmir issue at the UNGA session in New York on September 27

- PM Narendra Modi is also scheduled to speak ahead of Imran Khan on the same day

NEW DELHI: While India has said that terrorism is going to be just one of the several issues on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's agenda at the UN General Assembly, the government is likely to come back hard at Pakistan on the same issue if the latter indeed raises Kashmir-related developments there.

India's permanent representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said if Pakistan stooped low, India would soar high with its response.

"What you're telling me is that it will be more of the same, much more of the same from the side of one country. If that is so what is our response? So let me put it this way. It it is for every country to determine its trajectory of how it wants to approach global platforms. There may be some who stoop low. Our response to them is- we soar high. They may stoop low, we soar high, " he said.

Akbaruddin was asked whether he expected the Kashmir issue to come up during the UNGA session, and, if so, how will India tackle it.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to raise the Kashmir issue at the UNGA session in New York on September 27. PM Modi is also scheduled to speak on the same day.

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said Khan will "forcefully" raise the issue before the international community during his address to the UNGA.

Akbaruddin also laid out the focus and priorities of Modi when he arrives for the 74th UNGA session.

He said a plethora of pluri-lateral and bilateral engagements of the Prime Minister outline the examples of how India will soar higher.

"What they want to do is their call. We've seen them mainstream terrorism in the past. And what you're now telling me is they may want to mainstream hate speech. It's their call, if they want to do that. Poison pens don't work for too long" he said.

Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5. Reacting to India's move on Kashmir, Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian high commissioner.

Pakistan has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that abrogation of Article 370 was its "internal matter". New Delhi has also asked Islamabad to accept reality and stop its anti-India rhetoric.

But on a more serious note, it looks like they have internalized/believed their own fake propaganda and genuinely believe that we are scared/wary of PAF after Feb 27th. They are probably only setting themselves up for a severe beating the next time an event goes down.

"What they want to do is their call. We've seen them mainstream terrorism in the past. And what you're now telling me is they may want to mainstream hate speech. It's their call, if they want to do that. Poison pens don't work for too long" he said.

...

I'm loving this guy.

Also, Peregrine ji, when I quoted your post, I finally figured out where you get that beer emoticon from .

A major and a sepoy of the Pakistan Army were martyred in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Mohmand tribal district, the military's media wing said on Friday.

Maj Adeel Shahid and Sepoy Faraz Hussain "fell victim to an IED planted by terrorists from across the border", the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) tweeted. The squad under the martyred officer was supervising fencing work in an area "which carried [a] critical infiltration route", the ISPR added. Maj Adeel belonged to Karachi while Sepoy Faraz hailed from Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

DERA ISMAIL KHAN: At least four persons were killed and three others sustained injuries when a bloody clash erupted between the Dotani and Sherani tribes over the ownership of forest in Hasankhel area, police and hospital sources said on Friday.

As tension escalated between two tribes on the boundary of the districts of South Waziristan and Dera Ismail Khan, they resorted to exchange of fire. The clash left four persons dead and three others injured, said an official. However, the cops led by District Police Officer Dilawar Bangash managed to effect ceasefire between the rival tribes. The sources said the Dotani tribe of South Waziristan and Sherani tribe of Darazinda tehsil of the erstwhile Frontier Region Dera Ismail Khan had been running a dispute over the ownership of a forest in Hasankhel area. In view of the escalating tension, the district administrations of South Waziristan and Dera Ismail Khan have started efforts to normalise the situation. “The deputy commissioners of Dera Ismail Khan and South Waziristan are all set to convene a jirga of local elders to solve the issue,” said an official.

Brussels: Police in North Macedonia say a 23-year old Pakistani migrant has died after being hit by a train. The man, identified only by his initials A.I., died late Thursday near the central city of Gradsko.

Migrants who enter North Macedonia illegally from Greece often use rail tracks as a guide for the route toward Serbia, from where they hope to head to more prosperous European countries further north. In 2015, 14 migrants were killed when they were hit by a train while walking along the railway tracks. The number of people caught entering North Macedonia illegally from Greece has increased by 20 per cent so far this year, authorities say.

- US President Donald Trump will meet Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, a day after he joins Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the mega "Howdy Modi" event in Houston

- The US President will again hold a meeting with the PM Modi in New York on Tuesday, a senior official has said

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will meet Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, a day after he joins Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the mega "Howdy Modi" event in Houston and will again hold a meeting with the Indian leader in New York on Tuesday, a senior official has said.

Both the meetings with the leaders of India and Pakistan would be held in New York on the sidelines of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly, a senior administration official told reporters on Friday in a preview of Trump's engagements in the Big Apple next week.

Trump is expected to arrive in New York on Sunday night after his participation with Modi at the "Howdy Modi" event in Houston where the two leaders will address over 50,000 Indian-Americans.

The US president will then travel to Ohio where he will be joined by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

"President Donald J Trump will be travelling to Houston for 'Howdy Modi: Shared Dreams Bright Futures’ wherein he will travel on to Ohio where he will be joined by Prime Minister Morrison of Australia where they will visit Pratt industry and celebrate US economic relationship with Australia," the official said.

On Monday (September 23), the first day of his stay in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, Trump's first event will be the global call to protect religious freedom, the official said, describing it as a key event.

"After that the President is scheduled to meet with the following leaders. Prime Minister Khan of Pakistan, President (Andrzej Sebastian) Duda of Poland, Prime Minister (Jacinda) Arden of New Zealand, Prime Minister Lee (Hsien Loong) from Singapore, President al Sisi ofEgypt and President Moon of S Korea," said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Tuesday (September 24), Trump will deliver his address to the UN General Assembly. After that, he will hold a number of bilateral meetings.

"Prime Minister (Boris) Johnson of United Kingdom, Prime Minister Modi of India, the UN Secretary General, " the official said, adding that the president will also meet his Iraqi counterpart and end the day with a diplomatic reception.

With Modi-Trump meeting on Tuesday, the two leaders would be meeting for the fourth time in as many months. The meeting in New York is expected to set the tone of bilateral relationship between the two countries over the next few years.

The two leaders are likely to discuss a range of bilateral, regional and global issues, including efforts to address the growing bilateral trade disputes, potential defence and energy deals and peace process in Afghanistan.